TV review: Britannia

Britannia’s gory, druggy antics are rendered brilliant by also being very funny

David Morrissey last night educated us in a lesser-known tactic of the Roman army: defecate to win. In Britannia Morrissey, playing Aulus Plautius, a Roman general invading Britain in AD43, nine decades after Caesar left sharpish, ordered a conquering soldier to go into the woods and move his bowels to leave his mark and show the enemy he meant business. “My commander told me you are not really in a territory until you’ve had a good dump,” bellowed Morrissey, who later wore a whole wolf as a scarf. Bad move. As Antonius squatted, rapt in his task, he was captured by some druids and forced to visit the Underworld. Quite funny, really.